Voice message notification and retrieval via mobile client devices in a communication system

ABSTRACT

Voice message notification and retrieval functionality is provided for a mobile client device in a communication system by generating push content deliverable from a server to the mobile client device over a wireless network. The push content comprises a notification of at least one voice message received for a corresponding user in a voice messaging system. A connection between the mobile client device and the voice messaging system may be initiated from the mobile client device, responsive to the push content, for retrieval of the at least one received voice message. For example, the push content may comprise at least one link which when activated at the mobile client device initiates a connection between the mobile client device and the voice messaging system.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

[0001] The present application claims the priority of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Serial No. 60/435,463, filed Dec. 20, 2002 andentitled “System and Architecture of Multimodal and Multimedia Accessfor Secure Service Delivery, Service Notification and Monitoring OverConverged Networks for Mobile Users,” the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein.

[0002] The present application is related to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. ______ Attorney Docket No. 502042-A-01-US (Chou), filedconcurrently herewith and entitled “Secure Interaction Between a MobileClient Device and an Enterprise Application in a Communication System,”the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The invention relates generally to the field of communicationsystems, and more particularly to techniques for controlling access ofmobile users to an enterprise voice messaging system (VMS).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In recent years there has been extensive growth in VMS use incorporations and other enterprises. It is generally desirable to providesecure remote access to an enterprise VMS, in order to accommodate thoseusers who may be traveling, telecommuting or otherwise in a locationremote from the enterprise itself. For example, such users willgenerally want to be able to access the enterprise VMS from a mobileclient device, such as a mobile telephone or personal digital assistant(PDA).

[0005] One type of conventional approach to providing the above-notedremote access does not supply received message notifications to remoteusers. Instead, a user must frequently call in to access his or hervoice mailbox on the enterprise VMS in order to determine if anymessages have been received. Clearly, such an approach is inconvenientfor the user.

[0006] There are also a number of notification-enabled approaches. Forexample, a user may be notified via an e-mail message or a short messageservice (SMS) message when a new voice message arrives for that user inthe VMS. However, with this approach the user generally still has todial the telephone number of the enterprise VMS in order to access thereceived voice message. This can be very cumbersome, particularly whenthe remote user is in transit and equipped with only a simple mobiledevice having a small keypad. Other notification-enabled approaches aremore sophisticated, and upon notification may allow the user to accessthe VMS via a web page or other type of direct connection. However,these more sophisticated arrangements often require special purposehardware, such as a complex telephony server or a special type of mobiledevice, and are generally not designed for single-key access to the VMSfrom the mobile device.

[0007] It is apparent from the foregoing that a need exists for improvedtechniques for voice message notification and retrieval for mobileusers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention meets the above-noted need by providing, inaccordance with one aspect of the invention, improved voice messagenotification and retrieval for a mobile client device in a communicationsystem. More specifically, voice message notification and retrievalfunctionality is provided by generating push content deliverable from aserver to the mobile client device over a wireless network. The pushcontent comprises a notification of at least one voice message receivedfor a corresponding user in a VMS. A connection between the mobileclient device and the voice messaging system is initiatable from themobile client device, responsive to the push content, for retrieval ofthe at least one received voice message.

[0009] In an illustrative embodiment, the push content comprises atleast one link which when activated at the mobile client deviceinitiates a connection between the mobile client device and the VMS. Asa more particular example, the at least one link may comprise a livetelephone link specifying at least a telephone number of the VMS, suchthat the connection between the mobile client device and the voicemessaging system may be initiated from the mobile client deviceutilizing a single-key operation.

[0010] The server in the illustrative embodiment comprises a wirelesssecure server (WSS) that is coupled to an enterprise multimediacommunication server (EMCS). The WSS communicates with the mobile clientdevice utilizing wireless application protocol (WAP). The VMS may becoupled between the EMCS and a private branch exchange (PBX) element ofthe communication system. The VMS upon receipt of the voice messagegenerates an outgoing call to the PBX element, with the outgoing callcomprising routing information and user identification information, andthe user identification information identifying the user correspondingto the received voice message. The outgoing call is processed in the PBXelement in a manner that results in a connection being establishedbetween the VMS and the EMCS, with the user identification informationthereby being made accessible to the EMCS. The EMCS operates inconjunction with the WSS in generating the push content that isdeliverable to the mobile client device.

[0011] The push content may be deliverable from the WSS to the mobileclient device via a series connection of a push initiator and a pushproxy gateway. For example, the push content may be generated in theform of a service indication (SI) including at least one notificationmessage and at least one corresponding link which when activatedprovides access to the received voice message at the mobile clientdevice.

[0012] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the pushcontent may provide a notification of each of a plurality of receivedvoice messages. For example, at least one of the plurality of receivedvoice messages may be associated with a first voice mailbox of the VMSand one or more of the remaining received voice messages may beassociated with one or more other voice mailboxes of the VMS. As anotherexample, at least one of the plurality of received voice messages may beassociated with a first VMS and one or more of the remaining receivedvoice messages may be associated with a second VMS different than thefirst VMS.

[0013] The present invention provides numerous advantages over theconventional techniques previously described. For example, as notedabove, the invention in the illustrative embodiment supports single-keyoperation for access to a VMS to retrieve a stored voice message,thereby avoiding the need for users to enter VMS telephone numbers attheir mobile client devices. Also, the invention can be used to provideautomated notification and retrieval for multiple mailboxes acrossdifferent VMS providers, making it appear to the user as if all of themultiple mailboxes were associated with a single provider. In addition,the voice message notification and retrieval is provided in a securemanner, without compromising the EMCS, VMS or other elements behind asystem firewall. Moreover, the illustrative embodiment leveragesexisting VMS, PBX and other telephony equipment elements of the system,such that the improved voice message notification and retrieval isprovided in a particularly efficient manner and at low cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary communication system in which theinvention is implemented.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing one possibleimplementation of a processing element of the FIG. 1 system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] The invention will be described below in conjunction with anexemplary communication system. It should be understood, however, thatthe invention is not limited to use with any particular type ofcommunication system or any particular configuration of clients,servers, gateways or other processing elements of the system. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed techniques may beused in any communication system application in which it is desirable toprovide improved remote access to an enterprise VMS from a mobile clientdevice.

[0017]FIG. 1 shows an example communication system 100 in which thepresent invention is implemented. The system 100 includes a network 102,an enterprise multimedia communication server (EMCS) 104, and a wirelesssecure server (WSS) 106. The EMCS 104, which is assumed to run on acomputer, server or other processing element associated with a givenenterprise, is separated from the WSS 106 via an enterprise firewall108.

[0018] The system 100 also includes a wireless application protocol(WAP) mobile client device 110, which communicates with the WSS 106 overnetwork 102. More specifically, the mobile client device 110communicates with the WSS 106 via WAP gateway (WG) 112, and via a pushproxy gateway (PPG) 114 and a push initiator (PI) 116, as shown.

[0019] The system 100 further includes a VMS 120 coupled to the EMCS104. The VMS 120 is coupled to a private branch exchange (PBX) 122 whichsupports a number of user terminals denoted generally by 124-1 and124-2. The VMS 120 in this embodiment exchanges voice messaginginformation, illustratively in the form of H.323 calls, with the EMCS104, based on calls placed to VMS users and received in the PBX 122.

[0020] The details of WAP are well known to those skilled in the art,and are described in the WAP specification documents, which are herebyincorporated by reference herein. These documents include the following:

[0021] WAP Architecture:http://www1.wapforum.org/tech/documents/WAP-210-WAPArch-20010712-a.pdf;

[0022] WAP Push Architecture:http://www1.wapforum.org/tech/documents/WAP-250-PushArchOverview-20010703-a.pdf;

[0023] PAP:http://www.wapforum.org/what/technical/PROP-PAP-19990816.pdf; and

[0024] OTA:http://www1.wapforum.org/tech/documents/WAP-235-PushOTA-20010425-a.pdf.

[0025] Although WAP is utilized in the illustrative embodiment, itshould be understood that use of WAP is not a requirement of theinvention. Examples of other protocols that may be used in implementingthe invention include SMS, MMS, GPRS, IEEE 802.11, etc.

[0026] The EMCS 104 is an example of what is more generally referred toherein as an enterprise application, and it is to be appreciated thatnumerous other enterprise applications may be used in place of EMCS 104in implementing the invention.

[0027] The EMCS 104 may comprise one or more software programs runningon or otherwise associated with a communication system switch, such as aDEFINITY® Enterprise Communication Service (ECS) communication systemswitch available from Avaya Inc. of Basking Ridge, N.J., USA. Anotherexample call processing switch suitable for use in conjunction with thepresent invention is the MultiVantage™ communication system switch, alsoavailable from Avaya Inc. Such switches may also be used to implementthe VMS 120 and PBX 122 of FIG. 1, as will be apparent to those skilledin the art.

[0028] The WG 112, PPG 114 and PI 116 may each be implemented as one ormore applications or other software programs running on a web server orany other type of processing platform suitable for executing suchprograms.

[0029] The WSS 106 communicates alert and/or notification information tothe mobile client 110 via PI 116 and PPG 114, and receives requests fromand delivers associated content to the mobile client 110 via the WG 112.

[0030] As is described in greater detail in the above-cited U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. ______ Attorney Docket No. 502042-A-01-US (Chou),the WSS 106 may include elements such as a device profiling element, aregistration server, a first-in first-out (FIFO) user and device profilequeue, and a content generator including functionality associated withreal-time embedded uniform resource identifier (URI) processing, contentand control. Other elements, such as one or more connectors and an imagerendering module, may also be included in the WSS. It is to beappreciated, however, that the invention does not require any particulargrouping of elements within the WSS, and numerous configurationssuitable for providing the WSS functionality described herein will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0031] In the illustrative embodiment, the WSS 106 preferably interactswith the EMCS 104 through hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) orhypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) connections, such asEMCS-initiated HTTP PULL and POST communications, and utilizes WAP todeliver multimedia service content to mobile client devices.

[0032] References to HTTP herein should be understood to include thepossible use of HTTPS where appropriate. For example, HTTPS allows theuse of secure sockets layer (SSL) as its transport protocol accessscheme, as is well-known in the art, and this type of an arrangement maybe utilized in a given embodiment of the invention.

[0033] It should be noted that, although shown as separate elements inthe embodiment of FIG. 1, the EMCS 104 and WSS 106 in other embodimentsmay be elements of a single common processing platform. However, theEMCS and WSS when implemented on a common processing platform are stillpreferably logically separated such that the EMCS is behind theenterprise firewall and the WSS is outside the enterprise firewall, asshown in the figure.

[0034] The WSS 106 is an example of what is more generally referred toherein as a “server.” The term “server” as used herein in the context ofthe WSS is intended to include any arrangement of one or more computersor other processing devices configurable to provide interaction betweena mobile client device and an enterprise application using a combinationof push and pull delivery mechanisms in accordance with the invention.

[0035] User and device profile information may be shared between themobile client 110 and a device profiling element of the WSS 106, via aconnection established over the network 102 or other suitablecommunication channel.

[0036] The mobile client device 110 is also referred to herein as amobile client, or simply as a client. The mobile client 110, althoughillustrated in FIG. 1 as a mobile cellular telephone, may alternativelybe a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile computer, or any othertype of processor-based client device suitably configured forinteraction with the WSS 106 in providing various communicationfunctions of the system 100. Conventional aspects of such client devicesare well known in the art and therefore not described in further detailherein. Also, although only a single mobile client is shown in thefigure, the system 100 will typically include many such clients.

[0037] Additional system elements, of a type known in the art but notexplicitly shown in FIG. 1, may be coupled between the mobile client 110and the WSS 106, between the WSS 106 and the EMCS 104, or otherwisearranged within the system 100, in accordance with conventionalpractice.

[0038] Network 102 may represent, e.g., a global communication networksuch as the Internet, an intranet, a wide area network, a metropolitanarea network, a local area network, a wireless cellular network, or asatellite network, as well as portions or combinations of these or otherwired or wireless communication networks. The network 102 in theillustrative embodiment may thus be viewed as a converged network whichincludes a mobile wireless network portion and an Internet and/orintranet network portion.

[0039] It should be emphasized that the simplified configuration of thesystem 100 as shown in FIG. 1 is for purposes of illustration only, andshould not be construed as limiting the invention to any particulararrangement of elements. For example, the system 100 may includeadditional clients, servers, gateways, routers, switches or other typesof processing elements.

[0040] As indicated above, the illustrative embodiment includes a numberof WAP-enabled processing elements. WAP generally provides an open,global specification for developing applications that operate overdifferent wireless communication networks. Again, although theillustrative embodiment makes use of WAP and is described in thatcontext, WAP is not a requirement of the invention, and the inventioncan be implemented using other standard or non-standard protocols.

[0041] One important aspect of WAP is the specification of a pusharchitecture that allows content to be sent or “pushed” by server-basedapplications to a WAP-compliant mobile client device, without requiringan explicit request from the device. The term “push content” as usedherein is intended to include any type of information that may be sentto a mobile client device via a push mechanism.

[0042] In the FIG. 1 embodiment, the PI 116 communicates with the PPG114 using Push Access Protocol (PAP), while the PPG 114 uses a pushOver-The-Air (OTA) protocol to deliver the push content to the mobileclient. The PPG may notify the PI about the final outcome of a pushsubmission and optionally handle cancellation, replacement, clientcapability or other requests from the PI.

[0043] The PI 116 and its interaction with other system elements willnow be described in greater detail.

[0044] The PI 116 is an entity that originates push content and submitsit in the form of a push request to the PPG 114 for delivery to the WAPmobile client 110. The push request is preferably configured inaccordance with the above-noted PAP or other suitable protocol. The PIin the illustrative embodiment is typically on the Internet, while theWAP mobile client 110 is in the WAP domain. Therefore, the PI cannotcontact the WAP mobile client without an intermediary or a translationgateway, provided in this embodiment by the PPG 114. The PI addressesthe PPG directly and addresses the mobile client indirectly. Itassembles the push request in PAP format and submits the correspondingPAP message to the PPG. Each such submission has a unique identifier. Byway of example, the PI can request the outcome of a submission, e.g.,submission delivered or submission undeliverable, check the capabilitiesof a specific client device, or check the status of a previoussubmission or cancellation of a submission. The PPG provides the PI withclient capability lookup services, thereby allowing the PI to select theoptimal presentation attributed for particular content and a givenclient.

[0045] PAP utilizes extensible mark-up language (XML) and may betransported using protocols such as HTTP, simple mail transfer protocol(SMTP), etc. An example push request in the illustrative embodiment maybe implemented as a single-part or multi-part document which containsone or more of the following entities:

[0046] 1. A control entity comprising an XML document containingdelivery instructions designed for the PPG 114. The control entity isgenerally viewed as a mandatory entity in the illustrative embodiment.It identifies the target mobile client device and contains deliveryinstructions such as time delivery restrictions.

[0047] 2. A content entity that contains content destined for the mobileclient device. A content entity is only required for a push submission,but when utilized should be the second entity in the multi-partdocument.

[0048] 3. An optional capabilities entity that contains the mobileclient device capabilities for which the message is formatted. The PImay create this entity to indicate what it assumes the capabilities tobe. The PPG also sends a capabilities entity in response to a clientcapabilities query message.

[0049] The above entities may be bundled together as a Multi-PurposeInternet Mail Extensions (MIME) document, which may be sent from the PIto the PPG using a protocol such as HTTP.

[0050] PAP is also utilized to support the following example operationsin the illustrative embodiment:

[0051] 1. Push Submission. Delivery of a push message from the PI to amobile device.

[0052] 2. Push Cancellation. Allows the PI to attempt to cancel a pushsubmission. All push cancellation requests may be delivered as XMLdocuments.

[0053] 3. Status Query. The PI can request the current status of a pushsubmission. All status query requests may be delivered as XML documents.

[0054] 4. Client Capabilities Query. The PI can query the PPG toretrieve the capabilities for a specific mobile client device. All suchrequests may be delivered as XML documents.

[0055] 5. Result Notification. The PPG informs the PI of the finaloutcome of the push submission, for example, confirmation of contentdelivery to the target mobile client device. Preferably, the resultnotification operation is optional and occurs only if the PI requestsit. All such requests may be delivered to the PI as XML documents whenthe final outcome of the corresponding push submission is known.

[0056] The following are examples of various types of content that maybe delivered in the illustrative embodiment using PAP:

[0057] 1. Service Indication (SI). This content type comprises one ormore asynchronous notifications. For example, a given SI may contain abrief message and a URI specifying a particular service. The mobileclient can start the associated service immediately or store the SI forlater action.

[0058] 2. Service Loading (SL). This content type allows a userassociated with a given mobile client device to load and execute aservice specified by a URI.

[0059] 3. Cache Operation. This content type makes it possible toinvalidate content objects in a cache associated with the mobile clientdevice. Preferably, the system is configured such that all invalidatedcontent objects must be reloaded from the server on which theyoriginated the next time they are accessed. The cache operation contenttype may be utilized, for example, if an application cannot predict whencontent that it creates will expire.

[0060] A typical execution of the PI may include the following steps:

[0061] 1. Address the PPG and mobile client device.

[0062] 2. Assemble push content.

[0063] 3. Assemble push request.

[0064] 4. Submit push request.

[0065] 5. Check submission status.

[0066] 6. Get result notification.

[0067] It is to be appreciated that the foregoing push request entities,PAP-based operations and content types, and PI execution steps aremerely illustrative examples, and need not be present in a givenembodiment of the invention.

[0068] As indicated previously, additional details regardingconventional aspects of WAP are well known to those skilled in the art.Such details are therefore not described herein.

[0069] Example user registration and secure information access processesin the system 100 are described in the above-cited U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. ______ Attorney Docket No. 502042-A-01-US (Chou).These example user registration and secure information access processesof the illustrative embodiment utilize the example elements of system100 as shown in FIG. 1. As indicated previously, the invention can beimplemented without using these particular elements, and those skilledin the art will recognize that other user registration and secureinformation access processes can be implemented using other systemelements and associated protocols within the scope of the invention.

[0070]FIG. 2 shows one possible implementation of a given processingelement of the FIG. 1 system. The processing element 200 of FIG. 2 mayrepresent, by way of example, at least a portion of the mobile clientdevice 110, the EMCS 104, the WSS 106, or other processing element ofthe system 100.

[0071] The processing element 200 as shown in the figure includes aprocessor 202 coupled to a memory 204 and one or more network interfaces206. The techniques of the present invention may be implemented at leastin part in the form of software storable in the memory 204 andexecutable by the processor 202. The memory 204 may represent randomaccess memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), optical or magneticdisk-based storage, or other storage elements, as well as portions orcombinations thereof.

[0072] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the individualelements of FIG. 2 as shown for illustrative purposes may be combinedinto or distributed across one or more processing devices, e.g., amicroprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), acomputer or other device(s).

[0073] The FIG. 2 arrangement is considerably simplified for purposes ofillustration. For example, if viewed as representative of a mobileclient device, the processing element 200 may include conventionalelements typically associated with such a device, such as codecs andother voice signal processing hardware or software elements.

[0074] The voice message notification and retrieval functionality of thesystem 100 will now be described in greater detail.

[0075] The system 100 in the illustrative embodiment is configured so asto automatically generate and send notifications to the mobile clientdevice 110 upon the arrival of new voice messages in the correspondingaccount in VMS 120. The notification may advantageously include a livetelephone link to the VMS 120, such that the user, upon receipt of thenotification, need only press a single key on the client device in orderto activate the live telephone link to connect to the VMS and retrievethe voice message(s).

[0076] In other embodiments, additional information may be sent in thepush content with the live telephone link, such as user accountinformation. This can provide a further reduction in the amount ofinformation that the user must enter at the mobile client device. Forsecurity reasons, it is generally preferable not to send VMS accountpasswords in the push content in the illustrative embodiment, but suchaccount information could be sent if protected through cryptographicoperations or other suitable mechanisms.

[0077] The above-described single-key operation in the illustrativeembodiment avoids the need for any user recall or entry of VMS telephonenumbers at the client device. Moreover, the approach leverages theexisting VMS, PBX and other telephony equipment of system 100 in orderto provide the improved voice message notification and retrievalfunctionality at very low cost.

[0078] In the FIG. 1 embodiment, a given user of the VMS 120 registersfor the voice message notification and retrieval service by providing auser profile that includes identifying information for his or her VMSaccount as well as for the mobile client device which is to receive thecorresponding voice message notifications.

[0079] The user may be permitted to register multiple voice mailboxesfrom the same VMS or from a number of different VMSs. Since livetelephone links for the various mailboxes are pushed to the clientdevice, the system provides a unified and efficient mechanism forretrieving voice messages from different mailboxes. The user can set upand change various parameters such as notification intervals inconjunction with or subsequent to an initial registration.

[0080] In operation, when a new message is left on the VMS 120 for agiven user, the VMS makes an outgoing call to the PBX 122. The outgoingcall includes destination information for the user. This destinationinformation in the illustrative embodiment may include a prefix and asuffix, with the prefix providing routing information to the PBX, andthe suffix containing user identification information. The outgoing callfrom the VMS is routed by the system over an H.323 trunk from the VMS tothe EMCS 104. The EMCS extracts the user identification information fromthe received H.323 call. The EMCS then prepares and posts the messagingservice content to the WSS 106 via HTTP.

[0081] The WSS converts the content into a format suitable for themobile client device of the particular user, with an embedded livetelephone link, and initiates a WAP push operation. A text notificationwith an embedded URI is then pushed to the mobile client device of theuser. The text notification may include information such as which of anumber of user-assigned mailboxes the message is from, the identity ofthe caller, the length, subject matter and urgency of the message, andso on.

[0082] The user fetches the corresponding service content by pressing asingle key, such as an OK button, or entering another type of commandwhich activates the live telephone link. The live telephone link whenactivated connects the mobile client device to the VMS such that theuser can retrieves therefrom the newly arrived voice message. Theconnection between the mobile client device and the VMS may be via aconventional cellular or wireless telephone call of a type normallyplaced by a user at the mobile client device.

[0083] In the foregoing example, the text notification and livetelephone link to the VMS are sent together, such that upon receipt ofthe notification, entry of a single command at the mobile client deviceis sufficient to activate access to the VMS for subsequent retrieval ofthe associated voice message. However, the text notification and thelive telephone link need not be sent together, as is illustrated by thefollowing example.

[0084] Another example set of operations associated with animplementation of a voice message notification and retrieval process inthe illustrative embodiment of FIG. 1 is as follows.

[0085] 1. A new voice message is left for a given user on the VMS 120.

[0086] 2. User identification information is determined in the VMS.

[0087] 3. The VMS makes an outgoing call to the PBX 122. The outgoingcall includes the routing information to the PBX and the useridentification information.

[0088] 4. The call is received at the PBX.

[0089] 5. The PBX routes the call to an appropriate H.323 trunk.

[0090] 6. The EMCS 104 receives the H.323 call.

[0091] 7. The EMCS extracts the user identification information from theH.323 call and searches an associated database to find a match betweenthe user identification information and a registered mobile clientdevice.

[0092] 8. The EMCS generates the messaging service content, whichincludes a notification and a live telephone link to the VMS, and postsit to the WSS via HTTP.

[0093] 9. The WSS generates a corresponding text notification.

[0094] 10. The WSS initiates a WAP push operation and an SI whichincludes the text notification is sent from the PI 116 to the PPG 114.

[0095] 11. The PPG pushes the SI to the mobile client device.

[0096] 12. The mobile client device displays the text notification andthe user presses the OK button to fetch the corresponding voice message.

[0097] 13. The WG 112 receives a WAP request for the content from themobile client device and sends to the WSS a corresponding HTTP requestto fetch the content.

[0098] 14. The WSS transcodes the XML content into WML/XHTML with anembedded live telephone link to the VMS.

[0099] 15. The WSS responds to WG with WML/XHTML content via HTTP.

[0100] 16. The user presses the OK button again to directly call theVMS. This establishes a connection between the mobile client device andthe VMS that allows the user to retrieve the voice message.

[0101] The foregoing examples, although illustrated for notification andretrieval of a single voice message from a single VMS, can be readilymodified to accommodate retrieval of multiple voice messages, from asingle voice mailbox on a given VMS or from multiple voice mailboxes onthe same or different VMSs.

[0102] Multiple voice message notification may be implemented, by way ofexample, by configuring the WML/XHTML content generated by EMCS/WSS as amulti-part document, with each part corresponding to one voice mailbox.

[0103] It should also be understood that the particular processingoperations in the foregoing examples are not requirements of theinvention, but are merely indicative of typical operations in theillustrative embodiment of FIG. 1. Other processing operations may beused in alternative embodiments. For example, the notification mechanismfor conveying user identification information from the VMS to the EMCSis not limited to H.323 calls, and any alternative technique forconveying such information may be used. An advantage of the H.323interface, however, is that it provides a simple and reliable systemintegration utilizing otherwise conventional VMS, PBX and othertelephony equipment elements. Examples of alternative notificationmechanisms for communicating information between the VMS and the EMCSinclude session initiation protocol (SIP) notifications, or e-mailnotifications.

[0104] Also, the notification provided to the mobile client devicewithin the push content is not limited to a text notification, and othertypes of notification, including audible notifications or other types ofuser-perceptible notifications indicative of a received voice message,may be used.

[0105] Furthermore, push content comprising a notification of at leastone received voice message may be generated by the WSS alone, by theEMCS alone, or by the WSS operating in conjunction with the EMCS as inthe foregoing examples. The term “server” as used herein may refer tothe WSS, to the EMCS, to a single server which comprises the WSS and theEMCS, or to a set of servers which collectively comprise the WSS and theEMCS.

[0106] As previously noted, one or more of the processing functionsdescribed above in conjunction with the illustrative embodiment of theinvention may be implemented in whole or in part in software utilizingprocessor 202 and memory 204 associated with a processing element of thesystem. Other suitable arrangements of hardware, firmware or softwaremay be used to implement the techniques of the invention.

[0107] The present invention provides numerous advantages over theconventional techniques previously described. For example, as notedabove, the invention in the illustrative embodiment supports single-keyoperation for access from a mobile client device to a VMS to allowretrieval of a stored voice message, thereby avoiding the need for usersto enter VMS telephone numbers at their mobile client devices.

[0108] Also, the invention can be used to provide automated notificationand retrieval for multiple mailboxes across different VMS providers.This can in effect make it appear to the user as if all the messagesfrom the multiple mailboxes of the various VMSs utilized by that userare associated with a single common mailbox, thereby avoiding the needfor the user to monitor separately any such multiple VMSs.

[0109] Moreover, the voice message notification and retrieval isprovided in a secure manner, without compromising the EMCS, VMS or otherelements behind the system firewall.

[0110] The system in the illustrative embodiment also supports, inaddition to voice message notification and retrieval, secure userregistration and administration, over-the-air reconfiguration, andsecure enterprise multimedia content access.

[0111] Advantageously, the system leverages existing VMS, PBX and othertelephony equipment elements of the system, such that the voice messagenotification and retrieval is provided in a particularly efficientmanner and at low cost.

[0112] Another important advantage of the present invention is that, inan illustrative embodiment in which notification involves multimediacontent or a multi-part document, all information regarding the physicallocation of the content and the procedures for retrieving the contentmay be encoded in accordance with the WAP push protocol, so as not to bevisible from a display screen of the mobile client device. This featuremakes the present invention safe to use in a crowded area with otherpeople nearby, and therefore alleviates a problem that arises inconventional techniques, such as those based on SMS, where suchinformation may be shown explicitly on the mobile client device displayscreen.

[0113] The techniques of the present invention can be utilized with anytype of VMS, and can also be applied to other types of messaging,including messaging associated with conference call notification andso-called “exceptional” conferencing. It can also be used with messagingassociated with e-mail, fax, stock quotes, etc. As another example, itcan be used to allow a user to select among different levels of callbridging, such as bridging the calls to the mobile client device orbridging only voice messages.

[0114] It should again be emphasized the above-described arrangementsare illustrative only. For example, alternative embodiments may utilizedifferent processing element hardware, firmware or softwareconfigurations, different push and pull mechanisms, and differentcommunication protocols than those of the illustrative embodiments.These and numerous other alternative embodiments within the scope of thefollowing claims will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing voice message notificationand retrieval functionality for a mobile client device in acommunication system, the method comprising the step of: generating pushcontent deliverable from a server to the mobile client device over awireless network, wherein the push content comprises a notification ofat least one voice message received for a corresponding user in a voicemessaging system; wherein a connection between the mobile client deviceand the voice messaging system is initiatable from the mobile clientdevice, responsive to the push content, for retrieval of the at leastone received voice message.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the pushcontent is generated in the server responsive to information received inthe server from an enterprise application.
 3. The method of claim 2wherein the enterprise application comprises an enterprise multimediacommunication server.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the voicemessaging system is coupled between the enterprise multimediacommunication server and a private branch exchange element of thesystem.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein the voice messaging system uponreceipt of the voice message generates an outgoing call to the privatebranch exchange element, the outgoing call comprising routinginformation and user identification information, the user identificationinformation identifying the user corresponding to the received voicemessage.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the outgoing call is processedin the private branch exchange element in a manner that results in aconnection being established between the voice messaging system and theenterprise multimedia communication server, the user identificationinformation thereby being made accessible to the enterprise multimediacommunication server.
 7. The method of claim 4 wherein at least a subsetof the voice messaging system, the enterprise multimedia communicationserver and the private branch exchange element comprise elements of acommunication system switch.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the servercomprises an enterprise multimedia communication server.
 9. The methodof claim 1 wherein the server comprises a wireless secure server. 10.The method of claim 9 wherein the wireless secure server communicateswith the mobile client device utilizing wireless application protocol(WAP).
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein the push content is deliverablefrom the wireless secure server to the mobile client device via a seriesconnection of a push initiator and a push proxy gateway.
 12. The methodof claim 1 wherein the push content comprises at least one link whichwhen activated at the mobile client device initiates a connectionbetween the mobile client device and the voice messaging system.
 13. Themethod of claim 12 wherein the at least one link comprises a livetelephone link specifying at least a telephone number of the voicemessaging system.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein the connectionbetween the mobile client device and the voice messaging system isinitiatable from the mobile client device utilizing a single-keyoperation.
 15. The method of claim 1 wherein the push content isgenerated in the form of a service indication (SI) including at leastone notification message and at least one corresponding link which whenactivated provides access to the voice messaging system from the mobileclient device.
 16. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least onereceived voice message comprises a plurality of received voice messages,the push content comprising a notification of each of the plurality ofreceived voice messages.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein at least oneof the plurality of received voice messages is associated with a firstvoice mailbox of the voice messaging system and one or more of theremaining received voice messages are associated with one or more othervoice mailboxes of the voice messaging system.
 18. The method of claim16 wherein at least one of the plurality of received voice messages isassociated with a first voice messaging system and one or more of theremaining received voice messages are associated with a second voicemessaging system different than the first voice messaging system.
 19. Anapparatus for use in providing voice message notification and retrievalfunctionality for a mobile client device in a communication system, theapparatus comprising: a server having a processor coupled to a memory;the server being operative to generate push content deliverable to themobile client device over a wireless network, wherein the push contentcomprises a notification of at least one voice message received for acorresponding user in a voice messaging system; wherein a connectionbetween the mobile client device and the voice messaging system isinitiatable from the mobile client device, responsive to the pushcontent, for retrieval of the at least one received voice message. 20.An article of manufacture comprising a machine-readable storage mediumcontaining software code for use in providing voice message notificationand retrieval functionality for a mobile client device in acommunication system, wherein the software code when executed implementsthe step of: generating push content deliverable from a server to themobile client device over a wireless network, wherein the push contentcomprises a notification of at least one voice message received for acorresponding user in a voice messaging system; wherein a connectionbetween the mobile client device and the voice messaging system isinitiatable from the mobile client device, responsive to the pushcontent, for retrieval of the at least one received voice message.